This invention is directed toward an automatic by-pass control system for a meat injection machine, and more specifically to a system that adjusts fluid pressure to maintain a desired injection percentage.
Systems utilizing meat injection machines are well known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,497,176 by Basile et al., incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, discloses one such meat injection machine. Presently, injection pressure is dependent on two variables—by-pass pressure and pump speed.
By-pass pressure corresponds to air pressure provided to a by-pass piston. This variable is set by a machine operator, and normally is adjusted after performing a weight check on a meat product and an observation that the injection machine is pumping either above or below an acceptable range.
The pump speed determines the fluid flow that is available to the injector heads. Problems occur if the pump speed is set too low to supply sufficient fluid pressure and flow to the injector heads, or too high where there is too much pressure and flow sent to injector heads. Both situations lead to inefficiencies such as unnecessary turbulence in the tank causing foaming, fluid temperature increase due to additional fluid work, premature filter blockage leading to more frequent filter changes, and under injection of the meat product. Unless the operator is skilled in manually adjusting air pressure and pump speed to control injection pressure and fluid flow, these problems are likely. Therefore, there exists a need in the art for a system that addresses these problems.
An objective of the present invention is to provide an injection system that maintains an acceptable injection pressure.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide an injection system that automatically adjusts air pressure and/or fluid pressure to maintain an acceptable injection percentage.
A further objective of the present invention is to provide a by-pass valve that senses an increase or decrease in fluid pressure.
These and other objectives will be apparent to those skilled in the art based on the following written description.